Tyrone v Kerry All Ireland Final 2008

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

With apologies to those who are suffering from article burn-out, from today's Irish News:

Red Hand stars prove that dedication's what you need
All-Ireland SFC final
By Paddy Heaney


MUCH has been made of the stunning

teamwork Tyrone have displayed en route to this year's All-Ireland football final.

However, it would be a mistake to overlook their incredible levels of fitness. Philip Jordan is a perfect example.

The 28-year-old already owns two All-Ireland medals, but this success has failed to dilute his ambition.

"I would say that this is the most effort that I have ever put into a year, and I thought that I had given plenty of effort in the other years,'' he said.

"I have upped the amount of training that I did on my own. I counted up before the Wexford game how many sessions I had done including team training, matches, playing with the clubs, weight sessions and going to the pool for recovery sessions. I think it was 200 from the start of the January."

This figure of 200 needs to be put into its proper context. Between January 1 and August 31, the date Tyrone played Wexford, there were 243 days. In more simple terms, this means Jordan spent about six out of every seven days engaged in some activity related to football.

And he is not the only Tyrone footballer who is so dedicated. He added: "We did three or four fitness tests this year.

"In April, people were doing their best ever results in bleep tests. I think that shows the effort that everybody is putting in.

"Fergal McCann has done a great job with the fitness of the team. I don't think I've been involved with a fitter Tyrone team before.

"Some of the sessions have left boys on their hands and knees but no man has ever thought of dropping out. I don't know if we would have been capable of doing those sessions a couple of years ago."

The results of Jordan's punishing regime are plain to see. He was outstanding in the semi-final victory over Wexford.

Apart from doing an excellent man-marking job on Redmond Barry, he powered up the field from centre half-back to kick three marvellous points.

And when Wexford threatened a comeback, it was Jordan who won some vital balls in his own defence and provided the catalyst for a series of counter-attacks.

The player himself is remarkably composed. Speaking ahead of the All-Ireland final, he betrayed no signs of nerves and spoke freely and easily on all topics.

But, as he pointed out, Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has always encouraged his players to take the big days in their stride. More importantly again, they have learned that the approach works.

"We know the key to us in those two finals we won was that we were relaxed about the whole thing.

"We didn't get too worked up. That is something that Mickey has always tried to profess. He has tried to keep the players relaxed. There is no point getting worked up too early."

THE Moy man also acknowledged that team spirit can't be manufactured. It's an organic process that develops over time.

Tyrone have it in abundance as the bulk of the team have been playing together since they won the All-Ireland minor title in 1998.

"There are about seven or eight or us who have been playing together for a long, long time.

"Camaraderie is not an easy thing to get. You maybe think that you have a team spirit but you really find out if it is there or not during the tough times.

"I think it was really tested this year. The Mayo game was probably the key one for us. It was our third game in three weeks. We were

probably struggling a bit. We weren't playing well.

"It was probably just pure hard work in that last 10 minutes that got us through. Hopefully, if we win the All-Ireland, the players would say that the Mayo game was the key game for us."

However, there were encouraging signs before the Qualifiers that these Tyrone players were not prepared to abandon the year following the

replay defeat to Down in Pairc Esler.

The Down result may have caused huge disappointment, but it hadn't wrecked morale.

"The key to it was a meeting the Monday after the Down game. Mickey and Tony Donnelly and Fergal McCann were going to give the

players a week off. But the players spoke up and said they would rather get back into training straight away.

"I think that showed the attitude of the boys. We wanted to put things right and we knew that we were capable of doing it and that was a good sign for us,'' said Jordan.

The former Allstar was in no doubt that the five-week gap before their entry to the Qualifiers provided them with the perfect platform for their assault on the Sam Maguire Cup "It proved to be a blessing in disguise. It brought us off the radar a bit and there wasn't that much focus on us.

"If you looked through the papers in the week before our games, there was barely an interview.

"I think a lot of us were pleased about that. We came in and focused on ourselves and got ourselves right.

"We managed to get those first couple of victories. Maybe we didn't play great football, but they were victories and that started to build confidence within in the team.

"Against Dublin, we produced our best performance of the year and that was when we really started to believe that we were capable of doing it."

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Pussycat Galvin, eh?

[Hereiam]

Just a heads up to all who will be traveling on the Omagh - Ballygawley line to the match on sunday and indeed coming home again. Watch ur speed as the road will be littered with police. I have witnessed this on the last two All Ireland occasions. Lets hope everyone gets to Dublin and home again safely and without any speeding points.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Just a heads up to all who will be traveling on the Omagh - Ballygawley line to the match on sunday and indeed coming home again. Watch ur speed as the road will be littered with police. I have witnessed this on the last two All Ireland occasions. Lets hope everyone gets to Dublin and home again safely and without any speeding points.

Good point, especially coming down the hill to the Ballygawley roundabout - fish in a barrel.

And, the new piece of dual-carriageway just before Garvaghy heading south.

[orangeman]

Just a heads up to all who will be traveling on the Omagh - Ballygawley line to the match on sunday and indeed coming home again. Watch ur speed as the road will be littered with police. I have witnessed this on the last two All Ireland occasions. Lets hope everyone gets to Dublin and home again safely and without any speeding points.

It's encouraging to see all the new catholic police recruits out to do all the Tyrone supporters ! Fairly typical - my father always used to say, there's nothing worse than one of your own !!

[Rois]

Jaysus Orangeman what are you on about, the number of deaths on that bad road, I'll be glad to see the police out, whether they're Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Scientologist.   

If it helps prevent another death on the roads around Ballygawley, especially a Tyrone supporter, then litter the side of the road with police.

[cornafean]

It's encouraging to see all the new catholic police recruits out to do all the Tyrone supporters ! Fairly typical - my father always used to say, there's nothing worse than one of your own !!

Worth noting also that the Gardai have been busy with hairdryers on the 60km/h areas of the Lucan Duel Carriageway on All Ireland Sundays in recent years, and many supporters from the midlands and west have the penalty points to prove it.

[Zapatista]

It's encouraging to see all the new catholic police recruits out to do all the Tyrone supporters ! Fairly typical - my father always used to say, there's nothing worse than one of your own !!

Worth noting also that the Gardai have been busy with hairdryers on the 60km/h areas of the Lucan Duel Carriageway on All Ireland Sundays in recent years, and many supporters from the midlands and west have the penalty points to prove it.

Pity the boys on the field couldn't get a few points

[Declan]

Also any Tyrone folks coming down the N3 they will more than likely be out just before the Blanchardstown roundabout where speed limit drops

[Zapatista]

Can we all agree not to speed on the way to or from Dublin?

[armaghniac]

There is no doubt there is disgraceful driving on the days of footballs, speeding and reckless overtaking are the norm on the open road, while in Dublin people ignore every rule of road from no right turns to yellow boxes.

[nrico2006]

i think there are too many question marks over the tyrone defence and i think dara will win a lot of ball at midfield and use it better than normal. kerry have been though the mill this year - much like tyrone in 2005 - and have had to search their soul a couple of times to get this far. so its kerry for me.

I think the Tyrone defence has performed well this year and in the recent championship matches they have not shipped heavy scores.  I would be more worried about Kerrys 1-7 as they have looked very edgy this year and would not be as formidable as the Tyrone defence - but as the cliche goes it will all come down to who performs on the day.  Tyrone could be brilliant, Kerry could be bad or vice versa.  I would love both teams to go out and play to their potential and then lets see who wins.

[Uladh]

Defending isn't harte or jordan's strength but they will have to do a lot of it on sunday. i don't rate gourley at all (is quinn fit?) and added to that, the poor form of gormley this year is worrying. on the other hand mcmenamin is playing well and justin mcmahon has been magnificent. they get by defensively because of the team ethos but against kerry the cover will be spread thin because of the plethera of threats. i'd imagine harte has probably planned to apply the pressure through numbers in the middle third to minimise the supply of ball inside.

[under the bar]

Beware when buying what you think is legitimate white deezil when going thru anywhere in Co Armagh as they will be trying to pull a fast one on their superior footballing neighbours by filling us up with red/green in the hope we get dipped on the way back.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Jaysus Orangeman what are you on about, the number of deaths on that bad road...

Except that one fecker did me on the safest place, the dual-carriageway, after being frustrated by puritanicals the whole way was attempting to overtake another slow mover before the end of it. Was getting off till I (naively) mentioned Strabane -- nailed. Plus ça change